Tax Law

We provide tax law services in Canada and USA from our offices in Toronto, Montréal, and Chicago. Our tax lawyers operate as an integrated unit and in partnership with our clients to develop sophisticated solutions to our clients’ most complex and important taxation issues. We offer our clients expert advice on a broad range of tax matters of importance to their business interests.

We offer leading expertise and have extensive experience in each of the following areas of corporate tax practice:

• M&A, Corporate Reorganizations and Restructurings – We work seamlessly as part of a multidisciplinary team that includes corporate, securities, real estate and restructuring lawyers to advise on the taxation aspects of business acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations and restructurings. We have provided tax advice on many of the most significant transactions undertaken by Canadian corporations, investment funds and other entities within and outside Canada and by foreign corporations and other entities within Canada. We also have extensive experience advising on the tax aspects of a variety of “mid-market” corporate transactions and private client matters.
• Tax Advisory Services – We provide advice on a broad range of tax matters of importance to Canadian and foreign corporations, investment funds and other entities, including international tax planning, transfer pricing, corporate finance and capital markets, financial products, private equity, mutual funds, pension funds, executive compensation, banking and insurance taxation, commodity, sales and use taxation, customs matters, energy and resource taxation, and technology and e-commerce taxation. We also have extensive experience dealing with officials of the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency in seeking legislative amendments and advance tax rulings on behalf of our clients.
• Tax Controversy & Litigation – Our tax litigation lawyers have represented clients in several of the most significant tax litigation matters before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Tax Court of Canada and other courts. The extensive experience of our tax litigators before the courts also provides important perspective and invaluable support for the benefit of clients seeking advice from our M&A and general tax advisory practices. We also have considerable experience in preventing, managing and resolving audit and appeal disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency.
• Transfer Pricing – We advise on all aspects of transfer pricing including the development of transfer pricing methodologies and the preparation of contemporaneous documentation, the management of transfer pricing audits and the conduct of appeals to the Canadian competent authority and before the Canadian courts.  We were counsel in the first transfer pricing case to consider the scope and application of the current Canadian transfer pricing legislation and we represented the taxpayer in the first transfer pricing case to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
• Cross-Border Tax Planning – We work closely with leading tax advisers around the world to assist our clients with inbound and outbound cross-border planning advice and dispute prevention and resolution. We work collaboratively with our clients and their foreign tax advisers to provide efficient, expert tax advice in respect of our clients’ cross-border operations.
• Indirect Tax – We help companies develop an optimal indirect tax strategy to address business issues and minimize liabilities. Our indirect tax practitioners are recognized as some of the nation’s leading advisors and have decades of combined experience advising businesses in the banking, insurance, energy, manufacturing, distribution, retail, and import/export industries on the most tax-efficient ways of structuring their operations. Clients also benefit from the insights and connections gained from our advisors’ participation in various industry groups.
• Private Client Taxation – Our tax planning lawyers are integral to the successful structuring of our private clients’ assets, estates and associated business succession and estate planning. We focus on developing innovative and tax efficient structures for private clients; providing customized advice for trusts and wills; and drafting and negotiating tax aspects of all types of transaction agreements and other liquidity events. We help our private clients manage their tax risks; comply with complex tax rules affecting individuals, corporations, trusts and estates; anticipate and mitigate scrutiny by tax authorities; and defend tax audits. Our private clients benefit from the formidable expertise of  tax controversies practice in the event of tax assessments, audits, disputes and litigation.